Hijab Wearing Cosplayer Proves She's Worthy of Cap's Shield

Cosplay: Hijabi Hooligan Cosplay Photo by: Transwarp Photography

By now, you've likely seen this photo of cosplayer Dania Khalil of Hijabi Hooligan Cosplay (I could not love that name more, by the way) as Captain America. I'd be surprised if you haven't since her photo has been shared far and wide from the She-Geeks Facebook page to Gizmodo to Fashionably Geek, she basically exploded overnight!

Now, Khalil is no newcomer to cosplay. She's got several great cosplays in her costume arsenal (my favorites are her Lady Loki and Assassins Creed), but her Captain America is what's getting all the attention. As of this morning, she's just proven just how appropriate all this attention is.

Right now, being a Muslim in America is difficult with hatred, ignorance, and outright bigotry running wild, but Khalil's patriotic cosplay has cut right through all of that to bring out the best in us as fans. Since her photo started making the geek rounds, she's received a ton of wonderful messages and comments from fans, and apparently plenty of offers to send her actual cash to help get her a more professional shield to compliment the quality of the rest of her outfit. She's received so many offers that she had to address them publicly, and how she is choosing to handle all of the attention she's getting proves that she absolutely deserves to carry that iconic shield:

"Hey everyone! Many of you have offered to donate to GoFundMe to get me a better Cap shield, but I think I have a better cause for your money to go towards. I set up this campaign to aid Syria, as they desperately need our help at the minute. I'm sure many of you are aware of the atrocities being committed in Syria and the hardships the people there are facing. Stories like that of the 12 year old girl who tried to take her own life to give her family one less mouth to feed have rocked the world and brought tears to my eyes many a time.
If you could all spare as little as £1/$1 and share the link with your friends and family, I would be forever grateful.
Thank you all for the love you've shown me- now let's show those in need that same love. <3"

In true Captain America fashion, she is diverting this attention away from herself and on to others in need. Seriously, this woman is just a shining example of the best in all of us. If you'd like to spread the good around, you can find her GoFundMe page here. I think it's safe to say that we could all use a a few more people like her in the world.

Keep making us proud, Dania!!

Mobicon Happened, and I Was There

Unlike San Diego, Atlanta, or even New York, New Orleans isn't known for a particular convention, but the Gulf Coast is home to several conventions held throughout the year. It's my goal, here at She-Geeks, to showcase those smaller (but no less enthusiastic) conventions. If there is a convention in or around the Gulf Coast that you'd like to see me cover, please send the convention details to eris.shegeeks@gmail.com.

When you review conventions for a living, you find yourself at all kinds of cons that likely wouldn't have hit your radar otherwise. Most cons you look forward to, some not so much. There is always one, however, that you almost want to avoid. I had never been to Mobicon before, and the stories of harassment from previous years didn't exactly paint a sunshiny picture of this Alabama con, so I was a bit apprehensive about going. Then, there was a social media kerfuffle just days before the convention opened about one of the con's most popular events, and I found myself considering cancelling. Clearly, I didn't cancel. The point of this series is to shine a spotlight on these conventions, and it would be a disservice to my work, my readers, and to the convention itself if I allowed rumors to sway me rather than experiencing Mobicon for myself. So, I pulled on my big girl panties, made the decision to be as neutral as possible, and headed out to Mobile, AL.

Pirates Plundering for the Greater Good??

Last Sunday I ventured about two hours outside of New Orleans for Comics for a Cause 2.0, the annual superhero themed fundraising event for the Crew of Ragtag Misfits. In its second year, the event featured performances by the Valkyrie Rouge Tribal Belly Dance troupe (dressed as their favorite heroes, of course), a silent auction & raffle, blood drive, and live music all benefiting the children at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital as well as some local women's shelters.

Delivering toys, Christmas 2013 (Photo from Crew of Ragtag Misfits)

Since 2010, the Crew of Ragtag Misfits have been dressing up as pirates and bringing brightly wrapped toys, and big personalities, to children in hospitals and battered women's shelters in and around Baton Rouge. According to founder, Jennifer Haskell, the Crew provides gifts for sick children as well as their siblings:

"We give to everybody that's in the hospital room and we make sure that everyone's happy, to try and relieve the parents [of financial burden]."

Check out what you missed at this year's Comics for a Cause (and don't fret, you can still support their cause by donating at the Crew of Ragtag Misfits' new gofundme page):

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Accepted

I was nominated by the guys at The Week in Geek to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. As a lifelong baseball fan, I've been aware (and properly terrified) of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease) since I was pretty young. I've donated to the cause before, and participated in fund raising drives as well. For those who don't know, ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects about 30,000 people at any given time. Essentially, it destroys the ability for the brain to control the body's voluntary muscles, eventually (usually) resulting in complete paralyzation. Even more terrifying is that it does not, by and large, affect the cognitive functions of the brain; you remain aware. ALS is 100% fatal, and there is currently no cure or treatment that can stop or reverse the progression of ALS. Hopefully, the millions of dollars this campaign has raised can help change that.

I have made a donation to the ALS Association, and I encourage you to do the same. You can also visit their webpage for more information about ALS. Thank you.

I have nominated The Tortuga Twins and Brian of the Super Guillory Brothers Super Fun Show! Nut up, boys!

Now, let's get wet!

Horrible lighting. This was after a long day of helping friends move, so it was actually pretty refreshing!